Address plate sensing device



L. PQDOUGHERTY ADDRESS PLATE ssusmc DEVICE Jan. 13, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet. 1

Filed Oct. 24, 1957 E: IE

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United States Patent 2,868,452 ADDRESS PLATE SENSING DEVICE Leo P. Daugherty, New York, N. Y.

Application October24, 1957, Serial No. 692,158

7 Claims. 01. 23561.11)

The present invention relates to machines for processing and utilizing address plates, and more particularly for .improved electrical apparatus for sensing notches placed in the edges of such plates to record information relating thereto.

Address plates and address printing machines are extensively used in commercial operations where is it necessary to mail articles from time to time to a large list of addresses. Typical among such operations are the mailing of magazines, advertising material and the like.

A typical address plate is formed of metal and has embossed thereon the name and address of a particular individual such as a magazine subscriber. These plates are utilized in an automatic or semi-automatic printing machine to print the address embossed on each plate on a separate, label, envelope or the like.

In addressing operations such as the foregoing it is desirable to mark the plates with certain information, for example, the expiration date in the case of magazine subscribers. The plates are customarily marked with desired information by cutting notches in one or both of the long edges of the plate. These notches are used to control printing machinery, for example, to skip plates having a notch in a particular location. However, the sensing apparatus utilized in such machines has generally been of a purely mechanical type and thus failed to provide simplicity and flexibility of operation.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a sensing device for an automatic addressing machine (such as the Addressograph-Speedaumat, Class 2600 machine) which senses the notches in address plates passing through the machine and generates electrical signals corresponding thereto. These electrical signals may be utilized to operate electrical counters, electrical relays, and/or electrical solenoids arranged to control the functions of the printing machine.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a sensing device which may be attached to a machine such as the Addressograph-Speedauma class 2600, motor driven, ribbon-type printing machine with a minimum of structural modification and without interfering with the normal operation of the machine.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an electrical notch sensing device for attachment to an address plate handling device which may be arranged to provide a separate electrical signal over each one of a pair of conductors and having a pair of conductors associated with each of the notch positions (normally 24 in number) provided along the edge of an address plate.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from a consideration of the following description in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of an address printing machine incorporating the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front plan view of a tabulator and control board adapted to be used in conjunction with a sensing device according to the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational fragmentary view, partially in section, of a portion of sensing apparatus to be utilized in address plate handling machines such as the Addressograph-Speedaumat, Class 2600 machine;

a 2,868,452 Patented Jan. 13, 1

Fig. 4 is a top plan fragmentary view of the sensing apparatus of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a front plan view of an electrical sensing head according to the present invention adapted to be utilized in conjunction with the sensing apparatus of Figs. 3 and 4;

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view of the electrical sensing head of Pig. 5 taken along the line 66 in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view of the electrical sensing head of Fig. 5 showing the switch structure at one notch position in the operated position; and

Fig. 8 is a flat-form view of the contact strips shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 1, a motor driven ribbon-type address printing machine is shown which may be adapted to incorporate electrical address plate sensing apparatus according to the present invention.

For the purpose of illustration the present invention is shown adapted for use with an Addressograph-Speedaumat, Class 2600, addressing machine manufactured by the Addressograph Multigraph Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio. It will be understood however, that the invention could be applied to other similar types of machines.

Address plates 14 are fed into the addressing machine 12 by means of a supply rack 16. The plates 14 are transported along a channel 17 to a sensing position 19 and from there to a printing position 18. At the printing position 18 a stamper arm 20 is arranged to stamp a label, envelope or the like placed over the printing position 18 whereby an ink impression of the address on an address plate is transferred to an envelope or the like through the medium of an inked ribbon (not shown). From the printing position 18 plates 14 proceed along the channel 17 to a discharge tray 22 where they are collected to be returned to storage.

Such printing machines are available which have attachments whereby the operation of the printer may be controlled in response to notches cut in the address plates 14. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved electrical notch sensing apparatus for such a machine. The improved notch sensing apparatus is located at the sensing position 19 of the addressprinting machine. Electrical signals corresponding to the notches of each plate passing through the machine are transmitted from the sensing position 19 through an electrical cable 28.

According to the present invention electrical signals from the sensing position 19 are tabulated and utilized by a tabulator control board 24 shown in Fig. 2. The sig-. nals from the sensing position 19 of the address printing machine are fed to the control board 24 by means of electrical cable 28.

A number of electrical pulse counters 26 are arranged on the control board and are uitlized for tabulating the notches at various positions in the address plates. Although the counters may be arranged in any desired fashion, a typical arrangement is shown suitable for processing of magazine mailing lists, for example. Four rows of counters are provided, each having 13 counters. The first l2 counters may be associated with the months of a particular year while the thirteenth counter gives a total of magazines expiring in all months of the particular year. A complete tabulation over a four-year period could thus be provided.

Various systems may be utilized to record the months and years by means of notches in the edge of respective address plates. A typical arrangement might provide a notch in one of the first 12 positions along the plate in ac cordance with the particular month which it was desired to record. The thirteenth and following notches might be utilized to record the years (the number of positions for different years depending upon the maximum length of subscription). In such an arrangement each plate would have two notches, one in the first 12 positions denoting a particular month and one in the following positions denoting a particular year.

At the bottom of the control board 24 there are provided a number of rows of jacks 30, 31 and 32. Certain of the jacks, for example and 31, are connected directly or through relay circuits to the counters 26. Others of the jacks for example 32 may be connected to receive the sensing pulses through the electrical cable 28 from the sensing position 19 of the address printing machine.

Patch cords as illustrated at 34 and 36 are provided to connect the electrical leads of the electrical cable 28 in any desired fashion to the counters 26, thus providing practically unlimited flexibility in tabulating the information recorded by means of notches in the address plates.

In the multi-conductor electrical cable 28 leads may also be supplied from the control board 24 back to the address printing machine 12, whereby the function of the machine may be controlled by means of solenoids or the like in response to the notches in the address plate being sensed at the sensing position 19.

Switches 38 are provided to control functions of the address printing machine such as printing or skipping plates in response to the notches in plates as sensed at the sensing position 19.

The notch sensing apparatus of the address printing machine 12 is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. A sensing unit 39 is located at the sensing position 19 on the address printing machine shown in Fig. 1. Sensing unit 39 is arranged so that it is adjacent the plate channel 17. The positionof an address plate being sensed by the sensing unit 39 is indicated by the plate 46 shown in Fig. 3. The plate transport mechanism has been eliminated for simplicity.

The sensing unit 39 comprises a rocker arm 40 which is pivotally mounted to move toward and away from the address plate 46 located at the sensing position 19. The mechanical drive for the sensing unit is not shown as it does not form a part of the present invention, nor does the transport mechanism require any modification when the present invention is applied to the standard address printing machine.

A frame 42 is rigidly mounted on the rocker arm 40 and a number of fingers 43 are pivotally mounted in the frame 42. Each of the fingers 43 has a feeler section 44 extending upward at the forward end thereof adapted to extend into standard address plate notches cut into the edge of an address plate 46. At the opposite end of each finger 43 there is a probe portion 48. The fingers 43 are urged by resilient means (not shown) to an upward position.

A support member 59 is pivotally attached by means of a pin 52 to the rocker arm 40; the support member St) has rigidly secured thereto a sensing head 52. The sensing head 52 has a series of buttons 54 protruding from its ront face, and below the buttons 54 there is a guard strip 56.

As an address plate is moved into the sensing position 19 the rocker arm 4t) is tilted rearward (to the left in Fig. 3) so that the fingers 43 do not interfere with the passage of an address plate 46 into the sensing position. When the plate is to be sensed the rocker arm 40 is tilted forward (to the right in Fig. 3) so that the feeler section 44 of the fingers 43 are pressed against respective notch positions of the address plate as shown in Fig. 4.

At the positions where there is no notch cut in the plate the address plate bears against the feeler section 44 of a particular finger and causes the finger to be depressed so that the probe 48 of that finger is pressed down to a position below the guard strip 56 on the sensing head 52 as shown in Fig. 3.

At those positions where notches exist in the address plate the feeler section 44 of the associated finger 43 will fall into the notch and will thus not be depressed. Accordingly, that particular finger will not have its probe portion 48 pressed downward below the guard strip 56, but rather the probe portion 48 will be aligned with the associated button 54 protruding from the sensing head 52.

After the rocker arm 40 is tilted to bring the fingers 43 to bear against the address plate 46 which is to be sensed, the support member 5t) mounted on the rocker arm 40 is pivoted forward (to the right in Fig. 3) to cause all probe portions 48 which are above the guard strip 56 and aligned with buttons 54 to depress their respective buttons. The depression of buttons 54 causes electrical contact to be made between certain of the electrical leads 58 and 60 extending into the rear of the sensing head 52 as will now be explained.

The sensing head 52 is shown in detail in Figs. 6 and 7. it comprises a hollow housing 64, preferably formed of electrically nonconductive material. A plate 62 is secured to cover the front of the housing. Each button 54 forms a part of a slide member 68 mounted for sliding movement in a hole 70 in the housing 64. Slide member 68 has an enlarged forward portion 66'. Electrical leads 58 and 6h extend forward in the hollow portion of the housing 64 and have outwardly bent portions 59 and 61 between which the enlarged portion 66 of the slide member 68 is positioned. In the upper portion of the housing 64 a contact strip 72 is mounted and a similar strip 74 is mounted in the lower portion of the housing 64, these contact strips 72 and 74 being secured within the housing by means of bolts 76.

The contact strips 72 and 74 are formed in U-shape and are slotted so that a number of resilient teeth 78 extend from the contact strip 74. The contact strip 72 is shown as it would appear in flat form in Fig. 8. This figure also clearly shows the resilient teeth 78 forming a part of the contact strip 72 and an electrical lead 80 connected to contact strip 72. Electrical lead 80 is electrically connected to one of the multiple conductors of electrical cable 23.

From Figs. 6 to 8 it will be seen that as the button :74 of the sensing head 52 is depressed the enlarged portion 66 of the slide member 68 forces apart the electrical conductors 58 and 60 causing them to make contact respectively with contact strips 72 and 74. The contact strips 72 and 74 being formed with resilient teeth 78 are adapted to yield readily so that the button 54 may be depressed to a considerable degree beyond the point where electrical contact is made. At the same time contact strips 72 being formed with separate resilient teeth 7'3 allows temporary bending of oneof the strips 7 associated with a particular button without causing deforming of the contact strip at nearby buttons. Thus where an address plate has several notches, and even though they happen to fall at adjacent positions, good electrical contact will be made at the contacts 58 and 64) of the sensing head 52 associated with each and every one of the particular notches to be sensed.

The operation of the sensing head is further improved by grooves 82 in the sloping sides of the enlarged portion 66 of the slide member 68. These grooves tend to guide the end portions 59 and 61 of the conductors 58 and Gil so that they make contact with the proper teeth 73 of the contact strips '72.

There is also provided in the face of each button 54 a depression 84 so that the end of the probe portion 48 of a finger 43 engages the button 54 which it depresses and does not slide off to one side of the button.

The guard strip 56 on the face of the sensing head 52 prevents fingers which have once been depressed and moved toward the sensing head 52 from thereafter rising above the guard strip 56 to depress their associated buttons 54. The guard strip 56 is shaped in the form of a ramp which slopes on the lower side so that in the event probe portions 48 of the finger 43 are not fully depressed they will be depressed by the sloping surface of the guard strip 56.

To recapitulate the operation of the present invention,

when a sensing head has been installed in a notch sensing unit of an address plate handling machine in accordance with the present invention, the operation of the machine causes electrical contacts to be made in the sensing head corresponding to the notches in address plates passed through the machine. Normally two separate voltage sources in the control board 24 will be connected to the contact strips 72 and 74 respectively. Thus for each notch in the address plate which was sensed a complete electrical circuit to operate a relay counter or other device would be provided through the respective electrical conductors 58 and 60 associated with each notch position.

It has been found highly desirable to thus provide a complete two wire circuit for each notch position by arranging that the sensing head in effect close a single throw double pole switch for each notch sensed.

This arrangement simplifies the operation of the control board 24 and also allows a great deal of flexibility in the operation of the device. For example, assuming that a counter 26 requires for operation two connections to respective terminals of a voltage source, these connections may both be supplied from a single notch position. in this case the counter would count all plates having a notch at that position. However, if it were desired to count only plates having notches at both of two designated notch positions this could be accomplished simply by providing one connection from the counter to a terminal of the voltage source through a first notch positioncontact, and supplying the second necessary connection from the counter to a terminal of the voltage source through a different notch position contact. Thus both notch position contacts would have to be operated before the counter would be actuated, thus producing the desired count of only those address plates notched in both of the designated positions.

The above is only one of many manners in which the apparatus shown may be manipulated to produce tabulations or machine operations having a very high degree of flexibility. The fact that the sensing head incorporates a double pole switch for each notching position is in a large part responsible for this high degree of flexibility.

It should further be noted that although the sensing head constructed according to the present invention is of very simple and easily fabricated construction, its very simplicity of construction provides an inherently high degree of reliability and durability. Furthermore, the parts are arranged in such a manner that wear of the moving parts is minimized and at the same time the arrangement of parts is such that a considerable amount of wear can be tolerated without causing a malfunction of the electrical apparatus. The sensing head is thus well adapted to provide the large number of cycles of operation which will be required in the normal operation of an addressing machine.

Although a particular embodiment of the present invention has been shown by way of illustration it should be understood that many modifications and variations could be made to the illustrated embodiment by a person of ordinary skill in the art without exceeding the scope of the invention. It is accordingly desired that the scope of the invention not be limited by the particular embodiment shown and described, but rather shall be limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device for sensing the notches in the edge of address plates, said device having a plurality of fingers adapted to be positioned by the presence or absence of notches in said plates; an electrical sensing head comprising a housing, a plurality of pairs of electrical conductors, extending into said housing and forming within said housing pairs of resilient electrical contact members, a movable element of non-conductive material slidably mounted between each said pair of conductors and having an enlarged end bearing against respective ones of its associated pair of conductors and further adapted to move said conductors outwardly upon rearward movement of said element, a button on the front end of said element, a cover plate secured to the front end of said sensing head and having at least one hole therein located to allow said buttons to extend through said cover plate, a contact strip of conductive material mounted along the inside of said housing adjacent the upper ones of said pairs of contact members, a second contact strip of conductive material resiliently mounted along the inside of said housing adjacent the lower ones of said pairs of contact members, said first and second strips each having slots therein located intermediate of said contact members, and means for moving said sensing head into contact with said fingers whereby the ones of said fingers in a predetermined position depress said buttons causing said movable element to bend outwardly said contact members establishing an electrical connection between each contact member of a respective pair and its associated contact strip of conductive material.

2. in a device for sensing the notches in the edge of address plates, said device having a plurality of fingers adapted to be positioned by the presence or absence of notches in said plates; .an electrical sensing head comprising a housing of insulating material, a plurality of pairs of electrical conductors extending into the rear of said housing and forming within said housing pairs of resilient electrical contact members having diversely bent forward ends, a hole in said housing intermediate of the conductors of each of said pair of conductors, a movable element of non-conductive material slidably mounted in each of said holes and having an enlarged end bearing against respective ones of its associated pair of conductors and further adapted to bend said conductors outwardly upon rearward movement of said element, a but ton on the front end of said element, a cover plate secured to close the open end of said sensing head and having at least one hole therein located to allow said buttons to extend through said cover plate, a contact strip of conductive material resiliently mounted along the inside of said housing adjacent the upper ones of said pairs of contact members, a second contact strip of conductive material resiliently mounted'along the inside of said housing adjacent the lower ones of said pairs of contact members, said first and second strips each having slots therein located intermediate of said contact members, and means for moving said sensing head into contact with said fingers whereby the ones of said fingers in a predetermined position depress said buttons causing said movable element to bend outwardly said contact members establishing an electrical connection between each contact member of a respective pair and its associated contact strip of conductive material.

3. An electrical sensing head as claimed in claim 2 wherein said buttons are of rectangular cross-section and the holes in said covered plate are rectangular in shape.

4. An electrical sensing head as claimed in claim 2 wherein the enlarged end of said movable element is of V-shape.

5. An electrical sensing head as claimed in claim 4 wherein the diverging sides of said V-shape enlarged end of said movable element are grooved to slidably engage said contact members.

6. An electrical sensing head as claimed in claim 2 wherein the end of said buttons contains a depression to engage the end of said fingers.

7. An electrical sensing head as claimed in claim 2 further including a ramp adjacent to and extending parallel to the line of said buttons, said ramp being adapted to deflect and retain respective ones of said fingers which have been partially deflected from alignment with their respective buttons.

No references cited.- 

